Three Reichsbürger backers face trial in Germany over coup and kidnapping plot

Three men with alleged ties to a German extremist group that plotted to overthrow the government and kidnap a minister will go on trial in Munich on Wednesday.

The men are accused of backing the self-styled “United Patriots” group, part of Germany’s Reichsbürger scene.

The term, meaning “citizens of the Reich,” refers to a group of extremists and conspiracy theorists who reject the legitimacy of the German republic.

Four United Patriots members were jailed in March 2025 over plans to trigger a civil war in Germany through violence with the aim of taking over state power.

They were also found guilty of plotting to kidnap then-Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, who was a target over the German government’s COVID-era restrictions.

The men going on trial on Wednesday, named as 60-year-old Achim M, 71-year-old Joachim K and 62-year-old Rainer S, are accused of supporting the group and backing its coup plans.

According to prosecutors, they had all been earmarked to serve as government ministers in a re-established “Kingdom of Prussia” after Germany’s system had been overthrown.

The group, referred to by investigators as the Kaiserreichsgruppe or “Imperial Group”, was allegedly committed to forcibly establishing a new authoritarian Germany based on the old 1871 imperial constitution.

Read more: Euronews